Photograph by Bill Millios

HARBY: You know I had a hard time endorsing leadership as this edition’s theme because it’s such a buzzword in business these days. But we’ve met some amazing leaders through this issue and wow, are they inspiring!

PATTEE: I think leadership is a timeless concept that always needs to be examined and practiced. What did you learn from the people we met while putting this issue together?

H: First of all, I learned that leadership should be expected from all levels within an organization, not just the top. I also learned that leadership is holistic. The leaders in this issue truly practice what they preach in all aspects of their lives … not just business. What did you take from it?

P: That I am a great leader … What did you think I would say? – LOL But, I also learned that great leaders surround themselves with people who are better at stuff than they are. And that women make GREAT leaders because we think differently than men in many ways ….

H: I like that. I am better than you are <wink>. This issue also digs into the hospital controversy in the upcounty. Adventist and Holy Cross both want to build in that area, but only one will be granted permission. It’s quite the controversy! You like controversies, don’t you?

P: Dude … I couldn’t believe that story when it unfolded! And yeah, I would say I am a fan of controversy but only because I think confrontations lead to resolution.

H: I’m just happy they’re looking at building in Maryland instead of Virginia. Aren’t you tired of losing businesses and jobs and taxes to Virginia?

P: Well, you know, there is a misconception that most businesses want to go to Virginia and not Maryland, but when we spoke with a panel of government officials at our Roundtable, we found that wasn’t completely true and that Maryland is doing quite a bit to change that perception.

H: Go Maryland! I am a Terp, ya know.

P: Yeah … I know. It’s hard to miss that fact since you wear that funny little turtle costume during the games all season.

About the Cover

Leadership wasn’t a simple topic to depict on our cover. The impact of leadership in our lives is huge, so we decided to go with a cover that said the most with the least. We figured the concept of leadership speaks for itself. What do you think? Comment below.

Leadership in the Next Generation

Erich Dylus, Frederick High School graduate and member of the National Honor Society

by Linda Alexander
Photography by Erick Gibson

Erich Dylus considers himself a go-to guy. “Someone who works hard; can handle it,” said the Frederick High School graduate who will be attending Harvard in the fall. Although his accomplishments easily brand him an up-and-coming leader of his generation, he is modest.

A leader is “a role model … someone who sets a good example,” he said. “People are more prone to follow you on their own rather than by force. Be someone with whom others can identify. It’s important to have a passion. Otherwise, those you want to lead won’t follow.”

Named a Frederick High School 2010 Scholar Athlete, Dylus was one of two overall winners at the 33rd Annual Frederick County Coaches’ Association’s Scholar-Athlete Banquet, receiving a monetary scholarship to be put toward his college tuition. He also ranked second out of 306 students in his graduating class and was a member of the National Honor Society.

Dylus is no stranger to the spotlight. As a member of Frederick High’s Academic Team, he helped to represent the school at a televised regional tournament. He was also nominated by Frederick High School for the Jefferson Scholar Award from the University of Virginia.

His leadership skills extend beyond the classroom and onto the field as a noted soccer and baseball player. Captain of his soccer team this year, and the starting shortstop for Frederick High’s baseball team the past few years, Dylus helped win the State title in 2009, earning his team All-Area honors. In the spring of 2010, he ranked among the county’s top hitters.

He seems to understand the issues our world faces now and what we might face in the future. “The most important things to me are unemployment, the recession and what led up to them,” he said. And even though he anticipates having a Harvard degree, he still considers what obstacles he may face in the future, and is concerned about what jobs will be available.

As a future leader, Dylus remains realistic yet hopeful.

Did You Know…

New home sales surged 14.8% in April from March, after already rising substantially the previous month.

Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Maryland is among 16 states that have been selected to receive $162 million in new federal grants designed to advance health information technology.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Rockville has been named one of the 10 BEST places in America to start a business.

Source: Bloomberg Business Week

$14,915 vs. $40,640: Average tuition, room and board

at the nation’s four-year public colleges and universities compared to four-year private college costs. These figures both have doubled since 1990.

Source: U.S. National Center for Education Statistics

The Jobs Creation and Recovery Tax Credit, signed into law by Gov. Martin O’Malley, gives Maryland businesses a $5,000 tax credit for every unemployed Marylander hired through December 31, 2010.

Source: Maryland Department of Labor

Maryland added nearly 35,800 jobs in March, the largest increase among all U.S. states.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor

by Walter Finkelstein

How being vulnerable can make you a stronger leader

Any business leader who is concerned about the future asks the question: Where is the next generation of leaders to come from? As current leaders face global competition, changing demographics, differing generational expectations and the internationalization of both ownership and management, they recognize the challenge future leaders will face.

What are we doing, as leaders of corporations, to answer this question? When was the last time you looked at the people who report to you and asked, “Is any one of my direct reports ready to take the reins of my company?” If you intend to relinquish control to your children, are they ready to look at the world through a set of holistic eyes? Could they continue to transform your company from today’s institution to a highly efficient, deeply driven, high-value operation?

To answer these questions, you must first look at yourself and determine what needs to be changed. Your goal should be to create an environment where people want to join your business.

Based on personal assessments and knowledge of business practices, there are few companies that live up to their set of core values. The value system is easily ignored when “tough” decisions need to be made. I am convinced that current and future leaders must have a value system that guides people who have highly diverse values. For most people this will involve enhancement, if not transformation, of their current value system. This change comes from within you. It happens when you become aware of and articulate your core values.

The driving force for my transformation was joining an organization of my peers. The concept was simple: get together on a regular basis and share personal concerns and fears, knowing that other people might have the same issues and concerns. This group gave me the opportunity to open up, tell my story, affirm my strengths, acknowledge my weaknesses, remove my testosterone and be myself.

I had bought into the concept that all people who wish to succeed must demonstrate that they are infallible. Even though that misconception may generate success in the short term, people tend to see through that mask and see us for what we really are—human. People tend to have great difficulty in following a leader who is inauthentic. Granted, you may get conformity from those you seek to lead, but you will have great difficulty getting commitment.

At the time, the company I had founded made it easy for me to skate. I had a “rubber stamp” board and a great staff that followed my lead. I thought I knew it all—wrong! But by joining this group, a new dynamic was in place. I found a sense of security, a safe haven and a context for me to discuss issues that I wouldn’t bring up to the people in my company. I was vulnerable. This group provided me an environment based on safety and trust—and I really needed that. We were there to help each other to succeed through security, trust and open and honest discussion, where nothing was held back. It was a breakthrough experience for me.

Having run a number of companies, I’ve been faced with many challenges. Like me, many business leaders are in the same position of working toward developing a network of reliable resources to help eliminate that feeling of isolation and loneliness. It was by participating in a group of peers that I began to grow as a leader.

Walter Finkelstein is president of the Deep Learning Groupin Rockville and chair of Vistage/TEC, an international organization of CEOs. He has developed an approach that equips business proffesionals with the courage to identify, define and live positive core values as they exercise leadership. Contact him at ionbeamers@comcast.net

by Andie Rowe, BS, MEd

Taking work-related stress levels down a notch

The global economic downturn is challenging virtually every employer and employee. The drive to be cost-competitive, first-to-market and customer-centric in a 24/7 environment is testing everyone’s limits. Organizations are striving to reach new levels of performance and, along the way, dealing with higher levels of work-related stress.

Excessive work hours, lack of work/life balance and fears about job loss are the foremost sources of stress affecting people today, according to a new study by Towers Watson for the National Business Group on Health. However, the study found that only 24 percent of companies are taking action to address excessive workloads, 40 percent are acting on work/life balance and 42 percent are addressing fears about job loss.

Stress can have a significant and lasting impact on a person’s physical and mental health, work performance and relationships. We have witnessed a spike in anxiety and depression-related claims and a rise in the use of drugs and services to treat them. One recent UnitedHealthcare study found the average high-stress employee incurred costs of $570 per year versus $369 for the average low-stress employee. According to America’s Health Rankings, in 2009, Maryland ranked 31st in the nation for cardiovascular deaths, down from 29th in 2008. Maryland ranked 15th in 2009 for heart attacks, down from 7th in 2008.

To cope with stress, employees need to address four primary categories:

• Biological reactions: relaxation, meditation, improved diet, exercise and sleep habits.

• Environmental conditions: better time management, conflict management and delegating responsibilities (at work and at home).

• Individual actions: modifying personal behavior, assertiveness training, accepting criticism without overreacting, and avoiding substance abuse.

• Workplace changes: having a well-defined job, being clear about goals and priorities, being involved in worthwhile work, and having adequate staffing.

The goal is to create a sense of resilience in individuals and the workplace. According to the Wellness Council of America, resilience is generally defined as strength in the midst of change and stress, and the power to spring back and recover readily from adversity. Resilience can be maximized by a wide variety of activities, including “creative fun,” self-care, sleep choices, social support, attitude management, life goal planning and dietary supplements Support from friends and colleagues is also important.

Given the challenges of the current business environment, now is the time to develop programs and processes that build resilience. Along with ongoing corporate wellness programs, there are many positive seasonal activities in which companies can participate. For example, UnitedHealthcare offers its members the opportunity to participate in an annual spring and fall Walk for Health Challenge, a program that challenges employees to increase their physical activity by walking and logging their minutes for four weeks. Employees from The Meltzer Group Benefits in Bethesda celebrated their second win of the broker challenge along with GTSI Corporation who placed first in the corporate division. Many participants reported that taking a “walk break” during the day not only helped them become more fit but also helped reduce their stress.

For cost reasons alone, dealing with stress is an organizational necessity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 40 percent of job turnover is due to job stress, and 60 to 80 percent of on-the-job accidents are stress-related.

In the context of business challenges, stress is serious, growing and costly. Fortunately, even in difficult times, it can be managed and prevented through attention to the risk factors, self-help ideas and a commitment to resilience.

Workplace Stress Reduction Strategies That Work

• HELP: Employee assistance programs are under-utilized and under-promoted. Bring those resources to the forefront and provide incentives for employees to use them.
• COMMUNICATE: Address sensitive issues, give people a safe outlet for voicing their concerns, and talk to them about what you know and where the organization is going.
• MOTIVATE: Show people they’re important. In tough times, even no-cost and low-cost gestures are appreciated and motivating. Offer real hope; avoid false hope.

Andie Rowe, BS, MEd, is the Regional Wellness Director of UnitedHealthcare of the Mid-Atlantic, which provides a full spectrum of consumer-oriented health benefits plans and services (including stress management, health and wellness tools and resources) to individuals, public sector employers and businesses of all sizes.

by Larry Van Sant

An Energy Tune-Up for Your Business

Just like your car needs regular tune-ups and maintenance, so does the heating and cooling system in your office and building space—and it will make a difference in your bottom line.

Energy conservation is a hot topic among individuals and companies alike, and energy consumption is increasingly becoming a hefty line item in operating budgets. But it’s also a cost that can be controlled. So what can companies do to be more environmentally friendly, lower their energy bills but still maintain a comfortable work environment?

Planned maintenance can help reduce the energy consumption of your HVAC system and have your system performing to optimum efficiency. You’ve heard it before—planned maintenance works. Think of your HVAC equipment like your car. In fact, it runs more than your car, and needs routine service before it leaves you hot or cold. Air conditioning and heating systems need to be maintained because they operate all year long.

The good news is that most mishaps can be prevented by a planned maintenance check-up.

• Change filters regularly because dirty coils become less efficient in transferring the energy to cool or heat the space—and they can cause severe damage to your equipment if left unattended. Dirty filters also restrict the airflow, and require the system to operate longer to achieve the desired temperature.

• Refrigerant leaks can result from rubbing and vibration, and if left unattended, can cause your HVAC equipment to perform poorly and even worse, cause costly repairs. Equipment replacement costs can run $2,000 to $2,600 per ton, depending on the system.

• Programmable thermostats are one of the easiest and cost-effective ways of reducing energy consumption, slashing use up to 25 percent according to the U.S. Department of Energy. These thermostats allow you to set your temperature at one setting when your office is open, and another temperature setting for when you’re closed. Most also have a third setting for weekends as well. Some thermostats have a sensor at one location, and the actual thermostat in a separate secure location to prevent tampering with the temperature settings.

• Zoning your system can also result in lower energy bills. Zoning divides the space into smaller areas that require heating and cooling but not necessarily at the same time. Therefore, the system isn’t sending the air to the spaces that are not requiring it at that time. Although it can be costly to install, it normally requires smaller equipment and lower operating costs.

• Duct leakage can cost upwards of 15 percent of the entire heating and cooling bill. When your air ducts are not sealed, the cool and warm air escapes before it ever gets to the outlet. It may be going into the attic or ceiling—anywhere but where you want it—and it’s costing you money and comfort. This problem can be resolved by sealing the duct with the proper material and applying the proper tape on the joints. Think of your duct system as the veins in your body, and the heating and cooling unit as the heart. Regardless of how good your heart is, if your veins can’t get the blood to the right spot, then things don’t work properly. You can install a unit with the highest efficiency rating, but if the duct system isn’t correct, you will not get the results you hoped for.

• Replace your old unit. Sometimes it’s best to replace your equipment. Today’s air conditioning and heating equipment have higher SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) ratings and HSPF (Heating Seasonal Performance Factor) ratings than ever before. This results in fewer repairs, less expensive energy bills and energy conservation to keep your building green. Many manufacturers have leasing programs that spread the cost of the new equipment over 5 to 10 years to lighten the initial investment.

Everyone is talking green, but keep in mind: you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg to help the environment, and it will save you money and improve your comfort.

Larry Van Sant is the president and CEO of Mount Airy-based Van Sant Inc., which offers full service plumbing and HVAC services. Visit www.vansantinc.com for more information.

Words and photography by Bill Millios

Eric Mansfield loves to fly. He recently took a day trip from Frederick Airport to Luray Caverns in Virginia and described it as “amazing,” flying along the path of the Shenandoah River and peering at the Blue Ridge Mountains through the cockpit window.

“As a kid, I always wanted to fly,” Mansfield said. “I wanted to get up there and look down, and see the aerial view. At some point, I just decided to follow my dream.”

What made it difficult for Mansfield to achieve his dream wasn’t the dozens of hours he had to commit to learning to fly. Rather, Mansfield is deaf. He flies with no radio and does not communicate with the ground once he’s in the air. That means no communication with air traffic control and no radio communication with other nearby pilots.

By day, Mansfield is a math teacher at the Maryland School for the Deaf, teaching Algebra and Geometry to high school students. But on the weekends, he takes off into the clear blue skies with a rental plane from Frederick Airport. He was licensed in 2000 for single engine planes, and has been flying ever since. On average, he flies once a month to maintain his skills.

A member of the Deaf Pilots Association (DPA), which has members from around the globe, Mansfield has participated in “fly-ins,” where members gather from all over the world to share their love of flying. One of his best fly-ins was in 2005 in Plymouth, Mass. At that time, he had the chance to fly over Cape Cod, as well as take day trips to Provincetown; Martha’s Vineyard; Newport, R.I.; and the Mansfield Airport south of Boston.

Many people are amazed to learn that deaf people can become pilots. In fact, some states still ban deaf people from getting commercial drivers’ licenses. Mansfield explained that deaf pilots fly under what’s called “VFR,” or visual flight rules, which means they cannot fly through clouds or fog. They can take off and land from any of the 12,300 airports in the U.S. that do not have a control tower. There are procedures on what altitudes to fly when going east to west or west to east, where to fly before landing to observe the field and how to avoid mishaps. Radios are available, even encouraged, but are not required.

Mansfield said several challenges have popped up since the September 11th attacks. Before 9/11, he could fly directly to Ocean City from Frederick in almost a straight route, but now there is the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). This ADIZ roughly consists of the 30-nautical mile ring around Reagan International Airport, plus the additional airspace extending for 20 nautical miles around both Dulles and Baltimore-Washington International airports. The ADIZ requires pilots to communicate with air traffic controllers by radio, but Frederick Airport is just outside of this zone. Mansfield can only fly through this zone if he has someone with him who can operate the radio. Otherwise, he must fly north around Baltimore, and from there to Ocean City.

Other memorable trips for Mansfield have been the fly-ins for the DPA in Kansas City and a trip to New York City. In 2002, the DPA hosted their annual fly-in in Frederick, and Mansfield was on the committee for that.

So, the next time you see wings overhead headed to Frederick Municipal Airport, it might be Mansfield—living his dream.

Bill Millios is the owner of Frederick-based Hopeland Studios, and also a photographer for 270inc magazine.

by Christopher Phelps

Alexander Graham Bell Would Have Never Thought of This

Who would have thought that one day we wouldn’t even need telephones to make telephone calls? The latest innovation in phone service technology, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), requires only a computer and a high-speed Internet line—and it’s cheaper than landline phone calls.

VoIP, (pronounced “voyp”) enables computer users to make voice phone calls and listen to voicemails over the Internet. This recently perfected service not only includes standard phone features such as call transfer, call forwarding, hold and conference calls, but it also can send your voicemails to your e-mail to be heard on your computer.

Using the Internet to place a VoIP call is ultimately cheaper than using a landline phone. This new phone service is modernizing traditional landline service and providing a new style of luxury to communication. For example, if your business is run from multiple geographical locations, VoIP’s phone solution allows you to transfer calls as seamlessly as if you were in the same physical location. If you need to go on vacation but don’t want to be without your landline phone, simply unplug it from the wall, take it with you and plug it into the broadband Internet at your vacation spot. It will appear to everyone that you are still in the office with a fully functional phone

VoIP even has an option for “on the run” salespeople or other professionals to use their laptops as a phone. A software-based phone is installed on the laptop and as long as you have a broadband wireless card to access the Internet, all you need to have is a microphone in which to speak.

How Does VoIP Work?

When using VoIP, your voice is converted to a digital signal that travels securely through the web until it reaches its destination and then is converted back to a voice signal. You need broadband or a high-speed Internet connection to use this phone service. But there are limits to how many phones you can hook up depending on your networking environment. Installing VoIP in a business environment can be difficult if you do not have the proper infrastructure. But, because VoIP phones use the same Ethernet cabling currently in place for PCs, it is very convenient.

However, if you have too many computers in your office, the data from the PCs and VoIP phones could collide and create poor phone service. A computer consultant can assist with separating the traffic to ensure that proper voice quality is maintained. A good business-grade Internet router/firewall is also important to maintain superior VoIP quality. Wireless handsets and adapters are available. For your more robust business phone systems that require automated attendants and various extension options, many VoIP carriers have some impressive software to allow you to manage these situations.

VoIP Benefits

Voice over Internet Protocol has various advantages for users and is much more inexpensive than regular phone service providers—as long as you pay for an Internet connection. For those who love to multitask on the computer and hate having to run to pick up the phone, VoIP phone service would provide the convenience of being able to answer the phone while sitting at the computer. Business employees and people who travel regularly can bring a VoIP phone on the road and enjoy using their telephone wherever there is an Internet connection. You can call anyone, anytime, anywhere in the world. Even when your computer isn’t on, you can use the phone service, and you’ll end up saving money on your power bill.

Christopher Phelps is the owner of CWP Tech Solutions, Inc., a full-service computer repair firm also specializing in phone systems, IT maintenance contracts and local search engine optimization. He can be reached at info@cwptechsolutions.com.

by Rachael Shankle
photography by Jaime Turner

Healthcare reform hasn’t been so passionately debated since the Clinton Administration’s proposed package was declared dead in 1994.

More than 15 years later, with skyrocketing premiums and an aging baby boomer population, providing affordable healthcare to all Americans has once again taken center stage. The government, much like physician Harpal Mangat, maintains reform will not only make care affordable, but it will make insurers more accountable and extend coverage to the millions of uninsured.

But opponents of the mandate, such as Mark Kreslins, say the proposed plan is just another way the government is inappropriately and illegally meddling in the private lives of its citizens. It’s a question of individual rights, many opponents say, and Congress has no right or authority to force citizens to pay for something they don’t want.

We asked them the question:

What is your viewpoint on the new healthcare reform bill, and how do you think it will affect businesses?

Point: Reform enables everyone to have access to healthcare.

Harpal S. Mangat
MD, Internist with practices in Frederick and Clarksburg

No bill is perfect, but the new healthcare reform bill is a good start and comes at a very critical time. We have 30 million people uninsured and another 30 million baby boomers coming into Medicare. The current system is not effective in helping people to take better care of themselves. We do have excellent acute care, yes, but it doesn’t address the need and importance for long-term care. We have people with extended stays in hospitals at a higher cost; had they been treated with preventive care at an earlier stage, they would have been less likely to need hospitalization. The tragedy here is that most people don’t really understand the dynamics of healthcare.

We have a lot of people who can’t get insurance because of their pre-existing conditions. Many people can’t get good quality insurance without having to pay a very high price. This bill prevents the “cherry picking” that insurance companies are currently doing. It’s a battle almost every time with insurance carriers for me to do what’s best for the patient, so that’s one of the ways things will change with the new bill.

The number one reason healthcare reform is good is because it will enable everyone to have access to healthcare. Reform will encourage competitive pricing among insurance companies, bringing down the cost of healthcare so that the average person can afford to pay.

This will give smaller businesses the ability to compete for better healthcare plans. In the current market, if you’re a small business, you don’t have the same advantages of a major corporation with more buying power. So, another objective of the bill is to give smaller businesses the ability to compete for better healthcare plans on the same level as large corporations.

CounterPoint: Does everyone have the right to healthcare? No.

Mark Kreslins
President and owner of Home Care Solutions, based in Monrovia

You really can’t deal with the pragmatic realities of healthcare reform until you address the more pressing constitutional and philosophical issues. There is absolutely no provision in the U.S. Constitution that gives Congress the authority to mandate healthcare. Does everyone have the right to healthcare? No, I don’t think they do. If you go back to the founding of our country, the founders recognized essentially three rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Nowhere in there did it say anything about healthcare, yet we create these perceived rights. I don’t acknowledge healthcare as a right. I have a right to be as unhealthy as I want to be and as healthy as I want to be. Our liberty is being taken away from us. We have lost our right to choose not to have health insurance.

As a business owner, forcing me to provide health insurance to my staff affects my growth. I could be a bigger jobs-generator in our community if I had the ambition to grow. I want to stay under 50 employees because why deal with the bureaucratic headache if I don’t have to? Many businesses have stopped their expansion plans because there are so many regulatory burdens to being a business owner. At the end of the day, this costs us direct money. So, this is just another in a long list of other regulatory burdens on small business that is going to make it harder for us to do business and make money. Every business owner I know is deeply offended by the heavy hand of the government requiring us to do something we don’t want to do.

EXCERPT FROM THE RIGHT TO LEAD

by John Maxwell, Simple Truths, LLC, 2001. 144 pp.

What gives a man or woman the right to lead? It certainly isn’t gained by election or appointment. Having position, title, rank or degrees doesn’t qualify anyone to lead other people. And the ability doesn’t come automatically from age or experience, either. No, it would be accurate to say that no one can be given the right to lead. The right to lead can only be earned. And that takes time.

THE KIND OF LEADER OTHERS WANT TO FOLLOW

The key to becoming an effective leader is not to focus on making other people follow, but on making yourself the kind of person they want to follow. You must become someone others can trust to take them where they want to go.

As you prepare yourself to become a better leader, use the following guidelines to help you grow:

Let go of your ego.
The truly great leaders are not in leadership for personal gain. They lead in order to serve other people. Perhaps that is why Lawrence D. Bell remarked, “Show me a man who cannot bother to do little things, and I’ll show you a man who cannot be trusted to do big things.”

Become a good follower first.
Rare is the effective leader who didn’t learn to become a good follower first. That is why a leadership institution such as the United States Military Academy teaches its officers to become effective followers first—and why West Point has produced more leaders than the Harvard Business School.

Build positive relationships.
Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less. That means it is by nature relational. Today’s generation of leaders seem particularly aware of this because title and position mean so little to them. They know intuitively that people go along with people they get along with.

Work with excellence.
No one respects and follows mediocrity. Leaders who earn the right to lead give their all to what they do. They bring into play not only their skills and talents, but also great passion and hard work. They perform on the highest level of which they are capable.

Rely on discipline, not emotion.
Leadership is often easy during the good times. It’s when everything seems to be against you—when you’re out of energy, and you don’t want to lead—that you earn your place as a leader. During every season of life, leaders face crucial moments when they must choose between gearing up or giving up. To make it through those times, rely on the rock of discipline, not the shifting sand of emotion.

Make adding value your goal.
When you look at the leaders whose names are revered long after they have finished leading, you find that they were men and women who helped people to live better lives and reach their potential. That is the highest calling of leadership—and its highest value.

Give your power away.
One of the ironies of leadership is that you become a better leader by sharing whatever power you have, not by saving it all for yourself. You’re meant to be a river, not a reservoir. If you use your power to empower others, your leadership will extend far beyond your grasp.